Intellias sent film cameras to staff to recruit with real people

Intellias, a global software engineering company, wanted an employer-brand campaign that broke the polished-perfection clichés of tech recruiting. Its message was 'Real, Not Perfect': engineering is done by people who are curious, diverse and not trying to look flawless.

The mechanism enforced the message: 70 disposable film cameras, 27 shots each, no filters and no retakes, mailed to colleagues in Poland, Portugal, Ukraine, Colombia, India, Spain, Germany and the UK. Employees photographed whatever mattered, workdays, hobbies, pets, cities, messy rooms, and the company gathered almost 2,000 candid images.

The photos became a manifesto of realness and a film that reached around four million views; 'Real Not Perfect' turned into an internal catchphrase. The campaign was a finalist at the 2025 Effie Europe Awards and picked up international employer-branding awards.

Film cannot lie, so let staff shoot it

Film cameras made retouching impossible, so the output was authentic by construction.

Employees became the creators, which built community inside the company too.

The 2,000 frames gave the brand a bottomless supply of real content.

For employer branding, choose a medium that structurally prevents polish: disposable film makes authenticity the only possible output.

The campaign reached about four million video views, became a company catchphrase, and was named a finalist at Effie Europe 2025 while winning creative employer-brand awards in Croatia, Poland and beyond.